Development and launch Digital terrestrial television launched in the UK on 15 November 1998, just after
digital satellite television on 1 October 1998. The technology required that the UK government license the broadcast of channels in six groups, or
multiplexes (abbreviated to 'mux'), labelled 1, 2, A, B, C, and D. The
Independent Television Commission allocated half the capacity of a multiplex to each of the existing analogue terrestrial channels. This meant the BBC got a multiplex to themselves (Multiplex 1), ITV and Channel 4 shared Multiplex 2 (though 3% of the capacity was given to
Teletext Ltd.) and
Channel 5 and
S4C shared Multiplex A. The remaining spectrum (Multiplexes B, C and D) was then auctioned off. A consortium made up of
Granada and
Carlton (members of the ITV network, who later merged to form
ITV plc) and
BSkyB successfully bid for these licences, and set up the subscription
ONdigital service, though BSkyB left the consortium prior to launch. The BBC used some of its multiplex for three of its new television services:
BBC Choice (which had started on 23 September 1998 with four national variations),
BBC News 24 and
BBC Parliament (albeit in sound only). ITV initially used their space to house
ITV2 (from 7 December 1998) in England and Wales, You2 (later
UTV2) in Northern Ireland and S2 in Scotland (later both replaced by ITV2), as well as
GMTV2 during the early mornings. Channel 4 used their space for subscription channels
FilmFour and
E4 which, although not part of ONdigital, were only available through an ONdigital subscription. The nationwide coverage provided by multiplex 2 enabled Channel 4 to be received terrestrially throughout much of Wales for the first time in its history, where previously only S4C had been available. Consequently, S4C's digital service
S4C Digidol carried only Welsh-language programming, in contrast to S4C analogue which also carried English-language programmes commissioned and transmitted by Channel 4 in other parts of the UK. Channel 5 sold its half of Multiplex A to the owners of the other half, S4C, who set up a subsidiary called
S4C Digital Networks (SDN) to manage the multiplex. They rented most of it to ONdigital, and some space to the BBC who launched
BBC Knowledge on 1 June 1999, at a time when technical capabilities limited the number of stations it could carry on its own multiplex. S4C chose not to carry
S4C Digidol and its newly launched digital Welsh Assembly station
S4C2 outside Wales, preferring to sell the space instead. Consequently, some ONdigital services were not available on Welsh transmitters. While the BBC was seemingly concerned with delivering a service of good technical quality, other broadcasters chose to deliver a larger number of channels rather than optimise service reliability and picture quality.
ITV Digital ONdigital was unprofitable from the start, and renaming the service
ITV Digital on 11 July 2001 failed to help the matter. All subscription services except E4 and FilmFour went off-air on 1 May 2002 after the consortium collapsed, explained as being due to paying too much for the television rights for
The Football League. However, the choice of
64QAM broadcast mode, the fact that at least 40% of homes would need new aerials to receive it, a high
churn rate, an insecure and
hackable encryption system, the cost of having to provide free set-top boxes, and aggressive competition from BSkyB all contributed to ITV Digital's spiralling costs before shareholders Granada and Carlton called a halt to the venture.
Freeview When ITV Digital collapsed, the rights reverted to the regulator and the Independent Television Commission invited bids for the space on Multiplexes B, C and D. The Freeview consortium was formed by the BBC, transmitter company
National Grid Wireless (known at the time as Crown Castle UK) and
BSkyB. This consortium (legal name DTV Services Ltd and trading under the "Freeview" brand) won and launched a new service. Dropping the failed ITV Digital business model, Freeview launched on 30 October 2002 with free television channels only, and made digital radio stations available on television receivers for the first time. The BBC controlled one Multiplex (B) for its own services, and Crown Castle/National Grid the other two (C & D) for commercial services, though the Community Channel also operated on Multiplex B. The BBC's second multiplex allowed it to televise BBC Parliament where it had previously only been available in sound, allowed BBC Knowledge and its successor,
BBC4, to stop renting space from SDN for coverage, and allowed for special video screens in its interactive service
BBCi for use during selected sporting events. On 11 October 2005, ITV plc and Channel 4 joined the Freeview consortium. In the same year ITV plc bought SDN, and thus gained control of Multiplex A.
Top Up TV The space ITV Digital had rented on other multiplexes initially became empty again, but some was rented out to allow new channels to launch. In May 2004 Top Up TV was launched to provide subscription content in hitherto unused space on multiplex A rented from
Channel 5, and additional services transmitted by Channel 4 on their own capacity on Multiplex 2.
Turner Classic Movies purchased its own slot throughout England, Scotland and Northern Ireland from the multiplex owner, SDN, but rented from
Sit-up Ltd in Wales, timesharing with
bid tv. Multiplex A was ultimately owned by ITV Plc via its SDN acquisition, but ITV only had involvement with Top Up TV channels via Channel 5. This left Top Up TV with a reduced number of video streams. In November 2006, the company launched Top Up TV Anytime, where overnight "downloads" were recorded by a proprietary
personal video recorder (PVR). At the same time, they started reducing the linear service.
2006 changes to regulations On 19 April 2006, Ofcom ruled that, on request of each
multiplex operator, the '
free-to-air channels only' requirement put in place at the launch of Freeview in 2002 could be lifted on Multiplex B, C and D. Ofcom said that the digital television market had changed significantly since 2002. During the consultation, 9 of the 12 responses from broadcasters were in favour of removing the restriction. These included the BBC. The BBC agreed that the digital television market had changed substantially since 2002, and that Top Up TV probably could not afford the current cost of DTT slots anyway. The BBC suggested that the deregulation should be conditional on a number of further changes to regulation. These included that Ofcom change the transmission mode of broadcast on all multiplexes from 16
QAM to 64QAM so more services could be broadcast. However, Ofcom rejected these suggestions, saying they were outside the scope of the consultation. Out of the three that opposed, one was Channel 4, which had built a portfolio of free-to-air channels, among them Film4 which was made free-to-air on all platforms on 23 July 2006. Channel 4 argued that the number of free channels was the driving force behind the uptake of the platform, with more than 10 million Freeview boxes in use. A number of broadcasters requested that their replies were kept confidential. These include ITV and BSkyB. However, it is believed that ITV opposed the plan and BSkyB supported it. On 6 October 2007 Ofcom said that the plans for a new subscription service raised competition concerns and could have to be scrapped.
2008 update issues During 2008, a rolling programme of transmitter updates caused approximately 250,000 set-top boxes to stop working. Freeview had warned consumers in advance of the update, which was phased over a three-month period. The problem affected a specific range of older units, and was caused by an increased Network Information Table (channel list) exceeding the memory available in some set-top boxes. This had been part of the specification that was available and implemented in the very early OnDigital boxes, but not in those using the SetPal chip set. Affected consumers were advised to buy new set-top boxes. ==Digital switchover==
Summary The UK Government's intention was that
digital terrestrial television would completely replace
analogue terrestrial television in the United Kingdom by 24 October 2012. This process was known as "
Digital Switchover", or DSO. The industry association for digital television in the UK,
Digital TV Group, was responsible for co-ordination between Freeview and other digital services. DTG licensed the marking of suitable equipment with 'digital tick' or 'Freeview Playback' logos to identify PVRs and other devices designed to work through switchover, and to raise awareness of DTT product quality and standards. Digital terrestrial television is broadcast using the
DVB-T international standard for
standard-definition content and
DVB-T2 for
high definition content. The digital switchover process involved discontinuing analogue terrestrial TV broadcasts, which in some areas allowed for greater signal strength and/or better coverage of digital multiplexes. The process concluded on 24 October 2012, when digital switchover completed in Northern Ireland (the same day as the
Republic of Ireland also completed its digital switchover). In areas where analogue signals had terminated, older receiving equipment was likely to require replacement or upgrade. This process was subsidised by the UK Government for those on low incomes. Contracts for this operation were awarded to BSkyB in the Border Television region. Upgrading of analogue receiving equipment required a Freeview set-top box (or other DVB-T capable digital receiver). Where an analogue TV recording device was in use this ideally would require a separate Freeview set-top box, to replicate the previous functionality of recording and watching different programme sources.
History The progress towards digital switchover in the UK was long. The then
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport,
Chris Smith, announced in 1999 that the Government's intention was to achieve switchover "between 2006 and 2010". Work started in earnest with the setting up of the Digital Action Plan, a body working across industry, government and consumer groups to advise on the best way to meet the switchover target date. By 2003, however, it was becoming clear that switchover could not start by 2006. In particular, the decision taken by the
International Telecommunication Union to call a
Regional Radiocommunication Conference to establish a
frequency plan for digital broadcasting meant that in practice, substantive steps towards switchover would need to wait until after the conference's second session, due to be held in May and June 2006. On 15 September 2005, addressing the
Royal Television Society in
Cambridge, Smith's successor at the
DCMS,
Tessa Jowell, announced the go-ahead for switchover in the UK, coupled with support measures to ensure the disadvantaged are not left behind. On the day after Jowell's speech, an independent not-for-profit company,
Digital UK (now Everyone TV), was established to co-ordinate the switchover process. Set up by the broadcasters and the commercial multiplex operators, Digital UK was required to co-ordinate the project and ensure that the public are kept informed about progress. Local television broadcasters, including the BBC and ITV, actively encouraged viewers to upgrade to digital television. UK broadcasters were also under additional pressure to complete migration before the 2012
Olympic Games.
Digital rollout The British Government gave
Ofcom and
Digital UK jointly the task of discontinuing analogue television broadcasting. The switch-off occurred on an ITV sub-region basis. In March 2005, a technical trial in
Ferryside, Wales, resulted in viewers losing three out of the four available analogue channels in favour of going digital, leaving only analogue
BBC Two Wales until switchover at
Preseli in August 2009 (at the time,
BBC 2W on digital offered a different schedule to BBC Two Wales on analogue). In October 2007, following a 15-month publicity and information campaign, and an early digital launch in August by Channel 5, the Whitehaven, Eskdale Green and Gosforth transmitters switched off analogue signals on the BBC Two frequency, and began broadcasting a temporary digital service for the main channels. On 14 November, all analogue signals were switched off, and the permanent three-multiplex digital service began (albeit with Channel 5 only on the Whitehaven transmitter, until 2009). Unfortunately, as had been feared, a small number of homes among the hills, which had received "fuzzy" analogue signals, particularly in Eskdale, were unable to receive a decodable Freeview signal. The only other serious problem resulted from the "rescan" command in some models of set-top box defaulting to frequencies used by the nearest main transmitter, instead of the strongest digital signals; this could be overcome by using the "add channel" option to select channels one-by-one, and in the long term by corrections to the boxes' software. In November 2008, the full rolling programme started in the
ITV Border region at the Selkirk transmitter, with the Caldbeck transmitter switching a year later (Caldbeck was rebuilt, and broadcasts Scottish multiplexes as well as English ones to improve service to viewers north of the border; the nearby Sandale transmitter ceased to broadcast TV). The programme continued across the rest of the country, with the
Westcountry region,
Wales and the
Granada region switching over in 2009. The
West,
STV North,
STV Central regions and the
Channel Islands followed in 2010; the
Central,
Yorkshire and
Anglia regions in 2011; and finally the
Meridian,
London,
Tyne Tees &
UTV regions in 2012. Many decisions had to be made, including what to do about people who may find the new technology confusing, or who have no desire to receive more than the four or five channels they originally had, and who may have been reluctant to buy a digital box to view the free channels. The government arranged for the BBC to administer a
Digital Switchover Help Scheme to ensure that groups such as the over-75s and recipients of disability benefits did not lose their television services when analogue transmissions were switched off. Another issue was that the "98.5 per cent of the population" availability target could only be achieved "via rooftop aerials", while Section 134 of the Communications Act 2003 sets out the principle "that no person should unreasonably be denied access to an electronic communications network or to electronic communications services". This is taken to mean that everyone has the right to mount a television aerial on their roof. Ofcom allocated frequencies for groups of households to provide "self-help" relay transmitters at their own expense (for analogue broadcasts there were some 200 of these, serving around 13,000 households), but suggested that in such cases, terrestrial TV may no longer be the most cost-effective solution.
The switchover process After several months of press publicity, leaflet drops, public meetings etc., captions started appearing on analogue broadcasts from the affected transmitters, warning viewers that the analogue service would shortly be switched off and that they would need to take action (for Whitehaven, the first large area to switch over, the captions started appearing some 5 months before the BBC Two analogue service was switched off). At about the same time, details of the
Switchover Help Scheme were distributed. Although viewers who lived outside existing Freeview reception areas were unable to test any digital receiving equipment they had bought at this early stage, test-screens on
Ceefax (BBC One & Two) and
Teletext (ITV & C4/S4C) page 284 made it possible to determine whether they were likely to need a new aerial or a signal amplifier to receive digital transmissions. Next, detailed information booklets were delivered to all households in the area (including many on the fringe who may have been receiving their TV from other transmitters- hence the importance of the on-screen warning captions). Two or three months later, the first stage of the switchover began with the analogue
BBC Two replaced with the new BBC A multiplex. At some locations, during the period between stage one and stage two, BBC One, ITV or Channel 4 moved to the analogue BBC Two frequency where that channel's frequency was required for the digital transmission of Multiplex 1. At the same time, captions appeared on the remaining analogue channels reminding viewers of the impending switchover. Finally, the second stage saw the remaining analogue transmissions switched off and the other high power multiplexes switched on. Initially, this occurred four weeks after stage one, but starting with the switchover at
Mendip in April 2010 onwards, this gap was reduced to two weeks. Three multiplexes (BBC A, D3&4, BBC B) are for
public service broadcasting and are broadcast from all transmitter sites. They contain around 25 TV channels, half a dozen radio stations and half a dozen text/interactive services. These include all the television channels from the BBC, some from ITV and Channel 4, Channel 5 and S4C (in Wales only). The other three multiplexes (SDN, Arqiva A, Arqiva B) are broadcast from main transmitter sites only and are operated by their respective commercial licence-holders. To reflect the slightly changed roles, the multiplex names were also changed:
Post-switchover The adoption of the technically superior
DVB-T format occurred in each region at the date of switchover. This resulted in no reception for viewers with older '2k' only equipment, such as former ONdigital/ITV Digital boxes, and other incompatible IDTVs and set top boxes. In the Meridian and Anglia regions, transmitters formed a
single-frequency network when they were converted to all-digital operation. Alternative post-switchover multiplex designations were used on internal documentation by the BBC switchover contractor Arqiva, but changing the designations of the multiplexes requires changes to legislation When digital switchover was complete, two new sub-bands of the
UHF spectrum were clear (frequencies corresponding to channel ranges 31–40 and 63–69), leaving only channels 21–30 and 41–62 for digital television multiplexes. This "
digital dividend" required millions of homes to upgrade their aerials to the wideband type to receive some or all of the Freeview multiplexes. This spectrum is useful because of its trade-off between bandwidth and range. Following a consultation, in September 2011 Ofcom stated that an auction for the 600 MHz band will most likely lead to channels 31–37 being used for three new TV multiplexes; a reference transmission plan assumes two frequencies would be multiple-frequency networks, and channel 36 would be used as a national single-frequency network. The remaining reallocated frequencies can be re-used for other services, for example the provision of: •
mobile television services •
wireless (mobile) broadband services • wider coverage for advanced services in remote and rural areas • more multiplexes carrying more channels • high definition (HD) services The clearing and re-allocation of these channels of the spectrum for other services caused some controversy within technical industries, such as
wireless microphones, as Ofcom decided to clear channel 69 (854–862 MHz) to match the rest of Europe and make the facilitation of future services easier. Further re-allocations of the other freed analogue television channels have not yet occurred, but when implemented will require legislation changes. It is likely that if they are sold commercially, they will not only attract interest, but may be bought for millions of pounds due to the high demand for spectrum throughout most of Europe. Ofcom published further information about the auctioned channels. OFCOM released their consultation of the future of the 600 MHz and 700 MHz UHF bands beyond 2018 on 16 November 2012. This document recommends that the 600 MHz UHF band is allocated to DVB-T2 MPEG-4 Freeview HD services and "whitespace" services, allowing a future migration of the existing 700 MHz Freeview allocation to 700 MHz mobile data services, and synchronising the spectrum usage with many other markets in Europe and globally.
Digit Al Digit Al is a robot character created for Digital UK in 2005, by
Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO and voiced by the English comedy actor
Matt Lucas, used in material publicising the digital switchover. It appeared in the public information programme run by
Digital UK until 2012. The character was first transmitted simultaneously on about 100 television channels and on regional BBC television on 5 May 2006. ==Post-switchover reorganisation and HD==